Beachballs in the bleachers at Dodger Stadium. Popcorn-eaters in the front row. Palm trees. Hollywood. Vin Scully alone in a broadcast booth, talking by himself, talking to us. Assuring the world that all’s well in Dodgeralia. Calm. Composed. At home, in a park he’ll depart at season’s end. Handpicking his words, off endless branches, branches’ branches, in a deep memory he builds, maintains over many years, keeps polished like a jewel. He seems, and I quote from Ogawa Yoko’s “Transit” here, to speak words into the palms of his hands, and then present them to me one by one. Continue reading “Game 69 // Seventh Inning, Los Angeles // A Silent Gift, for Vin Scully”→

I check the MLB Gameday feed and see this in the 8th inning: Single to center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker. Below that: Single to center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker. Again: Single to center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker. And for the coup de grâce, the quadruple-stacked burger of cardinal meat, there’s a fourth update: Single to center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker.

We start tonight with Tyler Clippard on the mound for Arizona, wearing about the 50th jersey outfit this team’s rolled out this season, his ankles giving off the bloodied-sock look made… fashionable? by Curt Schilling in 2004. This must have deeper meaning: maybe that…the Diamondbacks will… stomp gorily over their competition? Stab themselves in their own Achilles’ heel? Spill grape juice on Continue reading “Game 18 // Twelfth Inning, Phoenix // Un-tie, Re-tie, Repeat”→

It’s Zack Greinke’s first start as a Diamondback, the crown jewel of the offseason’s top free agent sweepstakes, where he shows off the team’s newest revelation in design—uniforms that look more like team Globo Gym from “Dodgeball” than those of a proper major league club. And his golden locks are gone! Bad omen for Zack Samson Greinke.

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Upcoming, 2018: An October to Remember

An oral history of the 1968 World Series, composed entirely of interviews with each of the remaining players. Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Denny McLain, Orlando Cepeda, Tim McCarver, Mickey Stanley and many more. Due out for the 50th anniversary of the Series—August, 2018.